Made by *B*

 My downline alerted me to this idea and I of course CASEd it for my workshops this week! It uses:

tag punch for the hat

word window punch for the black band (trim the ends

oval punch for the  brim

1 3/8″ circle for his face

1/2″ circle for his nose

scallop punch for his beard

The “cheeks” are Blush Blossom ink on the end of an eraser. These can go around a Peppermint Patty, or I am going to attach them to dimensionals and pen caps for Camden’s teachers since I am volunteering on St. Patrick’s Day already!

Here is a cute little leprechaun to get your Irish eyes smiling-or any eyes at all! St. Patrick’s day is NOT a big deal in my house-none of us are even a teeny bit Irish, but I do love all holidays, so we will be having a “green” dinner and hunting for any tricks the leprechauns leave behind. When I taught the leprechauns always played tricks on my class!! They would knowck over chairs, leave green footprints on our chalkboard, and leave a little powdery gift in a bag. When you added milk the powder made green pistachio pudding-woohoo!

 Happy St. Patty’s Day to all my Irish (and not so Irish) friends!

How sweet are these images from the new Occasions Min iCatalog??!!?? I just love them. I made this card for Jami’s swap and was pleased with the results. On the inside I layered a piece of white cardstock and had “enjoy the little things” with the cherry stamped inside. I was happy with how cheery and bright the card ended up!

 This card has the new cosmo fine glitter on the stem of the strawberry-i colored the stamp with my real Red and Green Galore markers to get the 2 colors, and then used Crystal Effects and the green glitter to add the sparkle. The ribbon is Red Striped, Tangerine, and Celery altogether to pull in all the colors from the card. The DSP on the right is from Summer Picnic which coordinates with the Tart & Tangy set.

I have not been able to get my camera to download any pics. It takes the pics just fine, and I have about 6 projects to share, but I cannot get them on my PC. I will keep working on it, but that is why there are no updates-so sorry!

I was awarded this by Debbi Rippentrop-another fabulous and talented stamper.

http://debbisdesignaboutme.blogspot.com/

So now I need to tag some more talented stampers. Please feel free to check out their blogs and enjoy their creativity:

Denise: http://denisesstampingpage.blogspot.com/

Tandra: http://alittleinkalicious.blogspot.com/

Stephanie: http://sluman.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/

Kristilyn: http://stampwithkristilyn.blogspot.com/ 

Tiffany: http://mycraftyworld.blogspot.com/

Enjoy!

If you (like me) enjoy your time at Splitcoaststampers, please take a moment to fill out this survey:

http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/news/comments.php?id=691_0_1_0_C

Thanks in advance!

Since I got double tagged this weekend while I was busy doing neighborly stuff, I wanted to let you know about some other wonderful blogsto check out-especially if you like SU! goodies!!

 Here are some Rockin’ Blogger Girls to admire:

Debbi Rippentrop

http://debbirippentrop.blogspot.com/

Debbi is such a wonderful artist and I have admired her and her family for some time. She rocks!

Tandra Boyer:

http://alittleinkalicious.blogspot.com/

Checking out Tandra’s cards are like saying “ooh why didn’t I think of that?” We seem to end up in a lot of the same swaps-and I am guessing if I ever sat her in hair stylist’s chair my hair would end up looking a lot more fabulous!

Amy Mocas:

http://stampitsimply.blogspot.com/

Not only is “AmyLou” adorable-but I love verything she does with SU! The pic Amy has on her blog so looks like my mom when she was younger-my mom was always hip and stylish and had some adorable glasses like Amy does!

and Jovita Kloess:

http://jovikloess.blogspot.com/

Jovi is a  “vroomvroom” motorcycle certified cool chick who makes the cutest little hedgehog cards (among all the other adorable cards she produces). When ever I read Camden a Jan Brett hedgie book I think of Jovi.

 Go check ‘em out!

Thank you to all who played in my Adios Amigos contest.

The highest guess was 215 sets and 20 wheels, and the lowest was 18 (haha Jenn-I don’t trade THAT MUCH!)

The real answer:

57 total!!!

That includes wheels and sets combined. Not too big, but I will absolutely be making room for my next round of sets from the new catalog.

I had 2 answers that were each 2 away-the 1st one (and the winner) was by Susan Liles.

Susan please send me your address and I will get your goodies in the mail to you.  I will post a pic before I head to the P.O.

Thanks for playing and have a good one-make sure you don’t miss out on any “future hard to find” sets!

Can you believe the SU! retiring list?

http://www.stampinup.com/us/documents/US_retiredstamps_NUMB_COLOR.pdf

Lots of folks are speculating about what will be the “hot sellers” on ebay next year. I have a few ideas based on past retirement lists and what ha become a *hot* item, selling later in for over $50 in some cases.

What I have noticed is that the “highly sought after sets” seem to be ones that meet at least 1 of the following categories:

*not a lot of folks bought

*were not in the catalog long

*appeal to a hobby/activity (basically appeal to a niche market)

*can be used for both scrapbooks and cards

With that in mind here is a list of what I think will be hard to find later. If you have any of these on your wish list I would contact your demo and let them know. This is not a guarantee of course-but my 2 cents, LOL.

(by page number)

Web Wishes

Trick or Treat

*Halloween sets seem to be sought after seasonally-especially for scrapbooking!

Peace be Unto You

Madonna & Child

*religious holiday sets are often popular

Cruisin’ Christmas

*not a lot of folks bought this set-and it fills a niche market (bikers) and can be used for scrapbooks later on

*First in Fashion-not sure on this set-but there are tons of shoe lovers out there!

Pretty Princess

*does this even need an explanation? I know of so many parents that have Princess pics of their little angels, PLUS it has sayings to match. I LOVE this set and use it for almost every little girl birthday party in town.

Do the Hula

*Scrapbookers especially will want this set-not only is there a GREAT hula girl, but a man’s Hawaiian shirt so it can be used as accents for men and women.

What’s for Dinner

*this makes such cute recipe sets for folks-I think it will be missed!

All God’s Children

*can you think of a cuter set for Sunday Schools to use?

Symbols of Salvation

*again a lovely religious set that can be sued for 1st Communions, Weddings, and Sympathy cards

I love Soccer

Power Up

By Air

*MASCULINE SETS! So hard to come by-I know Power Up will be a hard find later on

En Pointe

It’s  Cheer Thing

Sporting Goods

*Kid sets that are sport/activity specific

Mixed Bouquet

Roses in Winter

*I think these two are the only floral “must haves”. Roses in Winter is really popular now, so it may be not too hard to come by later-but for die-hard fans there is no substitute.

Mixed Bouquet has only been in the catalog 1 year-I can see it being sought after later on because of its distinctive style.

Pines

*One of those sets that when you need it, you need it. Not hugely popular but will be used for masculine cards and camping/hiking scrapbooking

 Knobbly Gnomes

No Place like Gnome

*collectors love these-cute and kitschy

Classic Pickups

*car sets are always looked for

Cheesecloth

*Great textured background different from so many others. I use it often and great for masculine cards as well!

So that is my two cents.

And here is a little contest for YOU!!

Guess how many sets and wheels I have retiring (leave a comment with your guess). The person who is closets will win a ***prize**** from me.

Contest ends next Saturday, May 12th.

So Jovi

http://jovikloess.blogspot.com/

TAGGED me with 7 facts to share. So here they are:

1. I am a wee bit afraid of cats. I think they are adorable, like my friend’s cats, but deep down I think they will attack me without warning.

2. I do not swim in the ocean.Why?

Sharks of course! It is much safer in a pool where I can see the bottom. If cats and sharks ever cross-breed I will be locked in my house forever.

3. Chocolate &  peanut butter is about my favorite flavor combination. I love it.

4. My earliest memory is of my dad holding me while we slid down the pole at my dad’s firehouse. To this day I *love* the smell of smoke from a fire and firefighters after they have been on a run. I swear they should bottle it!

5. Unlike my aversion to sharks, I totally dig thrill rides. My son will tell you I am the bravest in the family. Even as I get in line though, I prepare what I would do or how I would hang on in case of mechanical difficulty. I often weave my hands together or brace my feet under something as if that is *really* going to keep my butt in if my seatbelt opens. (Hey-at least I am a good planner).

6. I have a sarcastic sense of humor and folks either tend to love me or loathe me.

7. I bite my nails and have since I was little, but can stop if I have something coming up. Right now they look nice, but I know that will not last long. My sister and I never both have long nails at the same time. 

Now I have to think about who to tag.

Hmmmmmmmmm

VA Beach Regionals that is.

I was so excited because I actually got to present a Workshop WOW in Saturday to all the folks who attended. I can honestly say I was super nervous-in fact I lost all of my “cool points” when I blurted out, “I am so nervous”, LOL.

And of course my samples-which I practiced 8 billion times at home before I left did not turn out as well as I had wanted. Murphy’s Law I guess!

But it was fun to do and I was excited to share something my own little pea-brain thought up-woohoo!

I call it Banded Brayer.

You take your stamping spots and move them along the brayer so that it creates a band of color around the attachment. It looks like you have run it along a spectrum pad when you are done. If you use spots you can use up to 4 colors-in the sample below I used Always Artichoke, More Mustard, and Ruby Red-the same color spots that came in the Autumn Elegance kit. Here is the finished sample:

edited to answer questions:

the main panel that is brayered is Very Vanilla paper.

After brayering the bg piece, I stamped over it using the flower from Doodle This in the Spring Mini catalog in Chocolate Chip ink, and then highlighted with the white gel pen.

This technique is good if you want a certain color combo and don’t have a spectrum pad to match-plus you can mix and match to help coordinate with your favorite background papers!!